Riddle of numbers
by Trump2020
Summary: huzzah


p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"The first victim is discovered in the Florida Everglades./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 8, 2 on his hands and forehead. 5 on his abdomen./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"We believe the numbers may be significant," a uniformed man reads from a prepared statement to the press, "but we cannot say for sure at this time." Detective Pierce has seen more faces of death than any man should ever have to endure, but this case—this seems different, somehow./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Another victim is discovered in the marshes of Louisiana soon after./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 8, 0 on her hands and forehead. 19 on her abdomen./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Are they connected? Law enforcement in Louisiana contact the agency in Florida. Criminal psychologists and cipher experts are called in to decode the strange numerical messages. Nothing yet. There isn't enough data. Detective Pierce knows, if there is a deeper meaning, /span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"it will only surface with more bodies/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;". To solve the murder, more must be committed. A cruel irony./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"A third victim emerges, and a macabre certainty is apparent—a serial killer./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 6, 9; 2/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"What could it mean?" Detective Pierce ponders over a table littered with dozens of photographs. The psychological stress begins to weigh on him. He first began the investigation into the mysterious number killings, and he now makes it his mission to discover the secret of these symbols and put an end to this evil./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"More victims./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 7, 1; 6/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 6, 5; 10/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 7, 8; 8/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 7, 3; 12/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 6, 9; 4/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 7, 8; 9/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"069/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;" repeats!" the authorities notice after the ninth victim is discovered. "It's certainly a code!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"And here! The victims with 8 and 9 on the abdomen have identical numbers on the hands and forehead too: both 0, 7, 8."/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Detective Pierce broods over this information. He locks himself away with the numbers, poring through literature about ciphers and codes. He devises complex algorithms to analyze the data, looking for patterns./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Pierce has always put work before his family. His colleagues will all tell you that. But the domestic strain from the number killings is pushing his relationships to the brink of collapse./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Another body in Florida./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"0, 8, 5; 15/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Pierce is on the scene, crouching over the Number Killer's latest conquest, examining the slapdash /span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"15/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;" scrawled unceremoniously on the abdomen./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"Detective Pierce." A voice from behind him. Pierce stands and peels the purple nitrile gloves from his hands and glowers at the intruder on his crime scene. "Agent Rickson. Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is my crime scene now, sir. I'll need a full briefing."/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"The /span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"hell/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;" it is!" Pierce snaps back. "I've been working these killings from /span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"day one/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"! You think you can just come in here with your federal mandate and expect me to catch you up on all the work /span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"my people/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;" have done?!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Agent Rickson hands Pierce a bound legal envelope. "You've been relieved."/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"This isn't over. You're gambling with people's lives…/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"sir/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"." Detective Pierce practically spits the final word at the agent's feet before snatching the envelope and rushing off the scene./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Over the next two weeks, eight more victims. Pierce's anxiety has left him unable to leave his office. He hasn't been home in three days. Though he's officially off the case, he's still haunted by the numbers and mounting body count. His work has suffered to the point that his superiors have issued reprimands./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"At his wits' end, Detective Pierce pulls officer Malloy into his office. Malloy is a rookie who's eager to please and has a knack for numbers./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"I need you on special assignment, rookie." Pierce is looking pensively out his office window when Malloy enters./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"Special assignment, sir?"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Secret/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;", special assignment, Malloy." He turns and places a sealed envelope on the table. "I need you to collect everything we have on the Number Killings. Meet me at the address enclosed here. Tomorrow night. Midnight. Tell no one."/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"But sir, I thought you had been reliev-"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Dammit, rookie! Do you want more people to /span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"die/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"?! We need to figure out this nonsense now or we're going to end up with dead bodies in triple digits, son!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Malloy reluctantly agrees. He smuggles boxes of files and pictures out of the precinct late the next night and meets Pierce at an abandoned warehouse to go over the information./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"For hours, the two sit at opposite tables, running numbers, delving into research, and analyzing the evidence, late into the early hours of the morning./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"With a sudden energetic vigor, Malloy springs from his chair and cries out, "ASCII!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Startled out of his analytic trance, Pierce inquires, "What did you say, Malloy?"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"ASCII! It's a computer language that uses numbers to represent letters! Look!" Malloy pulls up a reference sheet and begins arranging numbers on Pierce's desk. "If we take the abdomen numbers as the order, and the palm and forehead numbers as the code for the letter…"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"Malloy, you're a genius!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Working furiously, Pierce and Malloy clear a space on the dusty warehouse floor to lay out the pictures in sequence:/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Abdomens: 6, 12, 17…/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"G, I, U…/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"4, 9, 11…/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"E, N, G…/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"In minutes, the men have spread 76 photos over a 10 foot square of the warehouse floor and scratched nervous letters on ripped sheets of notebook paper under each group corresponding to the symbol./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"As they finish, Malloy stands back to survey the message./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"No…" All blood drains from his face. His legs go weak, and he collapses onto his knees. "It can't…It just…It /span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"can't/span/spanspan style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"!/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Detective Pierce is wide-eyed next to Malloy's broken form, mouth agape./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"A sound from the warehouse wall rattles the building as a dozen federal agents storm the facility./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"Mother of God…" Pierce doesn't even notice the agents. His unbroken stare is consumed by the message on the dusty warehouse floor./span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Agent Rickson grabs hold of Detective Pierce. "You're under arrest for interfering with a federal investigation and tampering with evidence."/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Malloy sheepishly confesses. "I told them everything! I told them you wanted me to take the evidence. It was a setup. I was worried about you. I'm sorry! But I never thought…oh God! What can we do?!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Pierce is handcuffed, and as he is dragged backward from the grotesque mosaic of death, he laughs in spite of himself, "You monster…"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"As he comes back to his senses, Pierce begins tearing at the agents pulling him away. He lets out a shrill, animalistic shriek…/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"YOU MONSTER!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"The other agents crowd around the space on the floor that has itself become a crime scene, and in an eerie silence, they collectively ponder the ethereal message left by the elusive Numbers Killer:/span/span/p  
p style="margin-bottom: 0in; border: none; padding: 0in;"span style="color: #333333;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP"/span/span/p 


End file.
